REBECCA

Poking around in Claw turf was dangerous biz.

They were raging assholes, the whole bunch of them. Sasha and I had already been harassed several times, and did I mention how much I hated being used as bait? Fuck Maine for this gonkass plan, I was gonna give him a piece of my mind when we got back. Maybe get Dorio to rough his ass up, too. Sasha didn't seem to mind, and she was currently flirting with a meathead - one who had a bit of a street rep. She'd dug up a bit of deets on this one, and though he was cute, today he was a mark.

Gloria Martinez, Maine's part time chrome supplier, had requested a favour. Supposedly, she had a kid (knew she was a milf, Pilar owed me money), and he'd gotten in with a questionable crowd. Ironic, given her choice in chooms, but who the fuck was I to judge or have an opinion? I was a merc, I flatlined gonks for a living, and I sure as shit didn't give a damn if they had it coming or not. It was fun, and the eds were a big plus. Helped with the fashionware and rent, especially with how often certain gonks forgot to pay their half.

So we'd dressed down, and started poking around Japantown. Dangerous under normal circumstances, but so were we. Me and Sasha? We made for a good team - cute and unassuming, looking for a good time. We could cover each others weaknesses too, and it was fun working with someone my age for a change, rather than the old folks.

It was ridiculously easy to slide into the mark's deets, especially with the way she was laying it on the gonk. One Junichiro Kusanagi, aka The Oni of Kamikaze notoriety - and though he was the mark, it was only because of who he was related to.

Pilar had wanted us to dress up in schoolgirl uniforms and infiltrate Arasaka Academy, because apparently there was another lead there for some reason. I managed to convince the vidiot that was a bad idea by punching him in the Studd so hard, I was surprised he didn't cough up chrome orbs. So now we were pumping a teenage cyberpsycho for details on his even younger sister, in hopes that we'd find out exactly what Gloria's spawn had gotten himself into. Probably just a yo-gang, but those could be just as dangerous as experienced crews, often moreso.

Kids were fuckin' cruel.

"I will ask, but I will not just give out deets. I am sorry." He inclined his head slightly, but it didn't look like he'd budge. Pilar would have sold me out for an ennie, so maybe this guy wasn't half bad, for a Claw.

"Nyaaaaa~, Jun-kun, pleaase!" I forced myself to beam up a supernova bright smile in time with the dark haired netrunner's exaggerated pout. The gonk had clammed up tighter than a dysfunctional Midnight Lady, the moment we'd brought up Section 9. Supposedly the knock off Danger Gal investigative team that Gloria's punk was involved with.

"No. Do not push further." I could see tension in his neck and jaw. Maybe poking at the borged out, possibly unstable gangoon attack tyger wasn't the best decision.

I gave Sasha's hand a tug, and started walking, "No reason to get upset, choom. We're sensitive, you know?" Maybe we could follow him. He didn't seem the type to be overly cautious.

We didn't get bothered again as we left, but I did keep a hand on my Omaha, just in case. Could never be too careful, especially if one of the gonks decided they wanted to klep you. Let 'em try though, it'd be a good way to blow off some steam.

Heh.

I chanced a glance back at him as we turned a corner, and I could see his eyes lit up in conversation.

M: So?

S: Nothing but his deets. Might be able to dig up where he lives, or where these street kids are squatting?

R: Or, we could just tail him?

D: Not a bad idea.

P: Still think we shoulda gone for the Academy.

R: Will you stop? It ain't happening.

P: You dont get it. I keep getting older, but -

His comm cut off with a pained cry. Probably because Dorio punched him. Good, I was gonna shoot his gonkass mouth off if she hadn't.

Still, we had a some sort of thread to investigate, and Pilar got punched. Not an entire waste of an afternoon. Maybe I could even get Gloria to pony over some preem shit for me next time. Or I might be able to work over her spawn, with my womanly charm.

All contingent on whether Seras would ever grant us a cameo, but that was beyond my control. A girl could dream, though.

And Night City wasn't called the City of Dreams for no reason, either.